


we've been here before

by DreamBrother



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Episode: s07e08 Hana Komo Pae (Rite of Passage), Feelings Realization, Hurt Danny "Danno" Williams, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24241876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamBrother/pseuds/DreamBrother
Summary: What if, the night of Grace's formal, the terrorists hadn't given Five-O an hour before they started shooting hostages?
Relationships: Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 63
Kudos: 331





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Would you guys believe me if I told you the majority of this fic was written in December 2019, way before we knew the show was ending, before we had any hope of more Danny whump? So reading through my draft, I was quite chuffed over how I wrote Steve in this chapter #psychic.
> 
> It's been a wreck of a week, work and life-wise, so I decided to do something achievable, such as finish this story. The next chapter is also 5000ish words, and will be up either Monday or Tuesday evening. 
> 
> For those of you who don't remember, episode 7x08 is basically Danny doing a Die Hard. He agrees to chaperone Grace's winter formal so he can figure out who Grace's boyfriend is (it's Will, who I love and adore in this episode). Whilst he is interrogating Will in the bathroom, hostages take over the formal to use the son of a diplomat as leverage for getting their leader released from prison. This fic basically goes AU from the very subtle 'Call who you Will" exchange. 
> 
> Lastly, I'm not American, nor do I know how medicine works. All medical mumbo jumbo taken from S3 of The Fall (Gillian Anderson is bae).

“I said to Danno… before the guy called you the second time… that I was glad he was there.” Grace hugged herself tighter. “But if Danno hadn’t been there, because of me… we all wouldn’t be here now.” 

“Oh Gracie,” Steve murmured, pressing her closer against his chest. “There is nowhere else Danno would have rather been tonight, than with you at that dance. Even if he had full knowledge of what would happen, I promise you, hand on heart, he would have done exactly the same thing, no different.”

When Steve received no response from Grace, only a sniffle, he continued. “Think of it this way, Gracie. Do you blame Jeremy Ramos for what happened to your dad? The bad guys were only there because they wanted him.”

“No, of course not.” Steve felt Grace’s head shake against his chest. 

“What about his dad, do you blame his dad? It was him they wanted to pressurize into getting their leader released.”

“No.”

“Then you can’t blame yourself either, Gracie. You did nothing wrong, you just went to your school formal, and your dad went as a chaperone. It isn’t the fault of the school for having that formal, Jeremy Ramos’ fault, his dad’s fault, your fault - all the people who are responsible for tonight are either dead, or going to be spending the rest of their lives in prison. They will never hurt innocent people again,” Steve promised. 

“But if mom had been there, they wouldn’t have singled her out, they wouldn’t have hurt her,” Grace argued back.

“Oh honey… in mine and Danno’s line of work, we can’t spend our time thinking of what if’s, otherwise no cop would ever go back to work. Maybe more people, your friends, your teachers, could have been hurt if your mom had gone instead. Your dad single-handedly took down half of the men there tonight, which made it so much easier for us to deal with the rest. And we only were able to infiltrate and take them down because Will was able to send us a video of the ballroom and where all the gunmen were, and that was only possible because your dad hid Will in one of the air-ducts.”

“Yeah, because Dad dragged Will to the bathroom to interrogate him about his intentions towards me.” Grace and Steve shared a quick chuckle at the image, amused but unsurprised at their Danno’s protectiveness over Grace. 

Grace went silent for a few moments, and Steve let her be, choosing to simply run his hand up and down her arm in silent comfort. 

“... but what if Danno doesn’t make it?” Grace winced at the sudden tightening of her uncle’s hand on her arm but she knew he hadn’t meant it. She lifted her head off his shoulder as she felt him move, twisting off his seat until he kneeled in front of her, giving her an intense look. She wished Danno was here so he could name this face of her uncle’s, she didn’t know what this one was called. 

“Gracie… do you remember the first time I ever picked you up from school, just me?”

Grace’s brow furrowed as she thought back and then she nodded slowly. “When I was in fourth grade? You took me to the hospital to see Danno because he wasn’t feeling well.”

“Yes, that time. Do you remember what else I said to you, about your dad?”

“Umm… you said he was tough and brave,” Grace replied. 

“Yeah, and in that time I’ve learned that not only is Danno brave and tough, he is, in fact, the toughest and bravest man I have ever known. So if anyone can make it through tonight, it’s your dad.” Steve squeezed Grace’s knee. “Do you remember what I asked of you, then?”

“Yeah,” Grace nodded as she wiped away a tear that creeped out at her uncle’s words. “You asked if I could be brave, like Danno.”

Steve smiled softly, reaching up with his right hand to cup Grace’s face, thumb wiping away the residual moisture. “Good girl. I’m not going to ask you that this time, because you’re your father’s daughter, and I know how incredibly brave, and strong, and tough, you are. But tonight I’m gonna ask you to be patient, and have faith, and believe in your dad, okay? Because he needs us to do that for him.”

Grace nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I can do that.”

Steve's smile widened with pride, standing up and pulling Grace against his chest, wrapping his hands around her. ‘That’s my girl.” He pressed a kiss atop her head when he felt her arms tighten around his waist. When her arms loosened somewhat, he released her and sat down again, keeping an arm around her shoulders, a replica of their earlier position.

For a while, they sat there in silence. They were mostly alone in the surgery ward's family room, with the exception of two parents waiting for the surgeon to remove their daughter’s appendix in an emergency procedure. Kono was with Will, getting his side of the events in an official statement, with Lou supervising since he was under-age, and also not quite willing to let his son out of his sight just yet. Chin had taken over having the scene processed over at the hotel in the rest of the team's absence, and Jerry was in charge of picking Rachel and Charlie up from the airport when they were due to arrive late in the morning, both to fill Rachel in on what happened, and to take care of Charlie whilst Rachel took care of Grace. 

Danny, as he’d been for the past hour or so, was on the surgeon’s table, a bullet in his abdomen.

Steve felt Grace shift slightly, turning his focus away from counting the number of tiles on the ceiling, a distraction technique he’d learned when he’d first been made to leave home. 

“Uncle Steve?” Grace began, her voice more unsure than before. Steve hmm’ed to show he was listening before adding, “Yeah, kiddo?” when Grace didn’t continue. 

“Can I ask you a question, and you won’t get mad?” 

Steve’s brow furrowed in confusion. “You can ask me anything, you know that, kid. What’s on your mind?”

This time, Steve didn’t prompt her when Grace didn’t speak for a minute. In that time, Steve’s mind whizzed about thinking of all the possible questions that Grace could think to ask him, especially at this moment. For the life of him, he also couldn’t come up with any question that would justify Grace thinking he would get angry over Oh God, please don’t let it be a question about boyfriends and sex. He didn’t want Grace obsessed with worry over her dad, and he was all for Grace distracting herself, but please, not this. 

Before Steve could work himself into a panic, trying to remember what was the appropriate level of sex education for a 15-year old, especially when delivered by a nearly 40-year-old medically discharged ex-Navy SEAL. 

“Do you love Danno?” finally came the whispered question, bringing all of Steve’s paranoid musings to a grinding halt. 

“Of course I do, Grace,” Steve replied without hesitation. Wasn't it obvious? After a moment, he added, “Have I done something to make you think otherwise?” 

A large part of Steve didn’t want Grace to answer. He and Danny hadn’t had the best year last year, constantly at each other’s throats, with their banter and sniping edging, sometimes, into hurtful territory. The plane crash and liver sharing hadn’t magically fixed all their problems but had been enough of a jolt to get them back on track to their more usual harmless and underscored-with-love arguments. Steve didn’t think Grace had been a witness to some of their uglier moments, to justify this question, and he couldn’t imagine Danny unloading about Steve in an unkind way to Grace, no matter how he would have felt at the time. Steve and Grace’s relationship had only grown since their first meeting, and Danny had never stood in the way of it. Quite the opposite, rather, sharing a generous portion of his limited visitation time with Grace, and then Charlie, with Steve. He'd teased Steve at first about his way with children, especially those they encountered during cases in the very early days but never had he mocked or ridiculed Steve's relationship with his daughter. 

Lost in his musings, it took Steve a short while before he realized Grace hadn’t answered his question, and his heart plummeted. Giving his niece a gentle nudge with the arm he had around her shoulders, Steve said quietly, “You can be honest, Grace, I won’t get mad. If I’ve done something that makes you think I don’t think the world of your father, or haven’t done, you let me know now, I promise I’ll fix it.” 

Grace turned her head so she was peering up at Steve, bottom lip caught between her teeth. “No, I meant… do you _love_ him, love him?” Her eyes pleaded with her uncle to get what she was trying to say. 

“Oh,” Steve said softly, understanding dawning. _“Oh.”_

This time, Grace waited patiently for her uncle to speak, turning her head away to give him some privacy. When he did speak, it was with a tone she had never heard him use before - soft, uncertain, with a hint of fear. 

"I think… I think I love Danny in every way that is possible for a person to love another person, Grace," Steve confessed, his heart thumping away in his chest, both for finally voicing out loud something he’d only ever felt and for the momentary silence that followed his pronouncement. 

Grace turned her head so she could peer up at her uncle’s face. She hadn’t seen him look so unsure of himself since the first time she’d fallen and cut her knee open whilst running around as a nine-year-old girl, and Steve had had to comfort her since her dad had been on a quick run to the grocery store. Steve had looked almost petrified when Danny had walked through the front door and spotted Grace’s knee covered in so many bandages that anybody would have thought Grace had fallen onto a bed of glass shards. Grace had been surprised when she’d felt an overwhelming need to protect Steve against her Danno’s wrath because she knew how her dad could get when she was hurt. She still remembered the look of sheer relief on Steve’s eyes when Danno had simply rolled his eyes at Grace’s stern warning that it had been her fault for running and falling, and that Danno wasn’t allowed to tell off Uncle Steve for what was ultimately Grace’s error. 

Much like then, she felt a surge of love and protectiveness for her uncle. 

"Does dad know?"

"No."

"Shouldn't he know?"

"Should he?"

"Shouldn't he? If you're in love with him?”

"Gracie…"

"What if he feels the exact same way about you, and you two could be together, but it's not happening because neither of you are brave enough to talk about it?" Grace shifted under her uncle's arms until she sat cross-legged and sideways on the chair, facing Steve. 

"Grace, things don't always work out like in the movies," Steve replied, reaching out to put a hand on top of where Grace’s rested on the arm of the chair. 

"I know, and I know I'm just a kid with barely any experience of relationships of my own. But I've seen Danno with Mom, I've seen Mom and Stan, so I've seen how wrong relationships can go. But I've also seen Aunty Kono with Uncle Adam, Uncle Lou with Mrs Grover, so I've seen good relationships too. And I've seen you and Danno for years now, and you make each other _so_ happy, and you could have what Aunty Kono, Uncle Lou have."

"You're assuming Danno feels the same way about me, Grace." Danny was open with his daughter, but Steve doubted he would have confided in her his deep and seemingly unrequited love of Steve as though he was another of Grace's teenage friends gossiping about their latest crush. Danny loved openly, but he was also more guarded with his deeper emotions than people realized, his bluster and ranting often an effective distraction from what lay beneath. Steve had been fooled by it himself at first, but he hadn't been the guy's partner for the last seven years for nothing. 

"Danno hasn't said as much, but I don't think you need to worry, Uncle Steve. I think you should tell him how you feel," Grace pleaded. 

"Gracie… I can't lose him. If he doesn't feel the same way, it may ruin what we have now. I rather have some of him than none of him."

"Uncle Steve, Danno would never do that to you." Grace sandwiched Steve’s hand between her own, giving it a quick squeeze. "He came to Hawaii for me, yes. But when I go off to college, and when Charlie eventually goes to college too, he isn't going to move back to Jersey. His home is here now, and that's because of you. He has ohana here, because of Five-O and that's _all_ you."

Steve felt a stab of horror as he realized his eyes were getting wet. "Grace…"

"You'll never have none of him, Uncle Steve. You already have some of him, but you could have all of him. Isn't he worth the risk?"

Steve opened his mouth to respond, but the words never made it past his lip as he saw Grace's face lose all color and her breathing pick up. She was looking past him, and Steve jerked his head to see what was causing such a reaction. 

"Nonono, it's too soon, Uncle Steve, they can't be done yet," Grace's worried murmurings were the soundtrack to Danny's surgeon making a bee-line for them. 

She was right, they couldn't be done with Danny just yet, not with the nature and extent of his wounds. Not unless...

Steve turned and wrapped himself around Grace, speaking into her ear with a confidence he himself did not feel. "Kiddo, I promise you, it'll be okay. Wait here." With a quick squeeze on her shoulder, Steve turned and met the doctor halfway. If it really was going to be Steve's most formidable nightmare given life, he didn't want Grace to hear it directly from the doctor. 

"Doc?" Steve said quietly enough that his words wouldn't reach Grace’s ears. "You here about Danny?" 

“Yes, I’m Doctor Badsha. You’re Commander McGarrett, Detective William's healthcare proxy?”

“Yeah, that’s me. Is Danny…” Steve couldn’t finish his question. “I mean, we weren’t expecting surgery to be done yet.”

The doctor’s face betrayed an ounce of sympathy. “That’s because it isn’t. Doctor King, the primary surgeon on Danny’s case, and I have made the decision to pause surgery on Detective Williams. His body temperature and blood pressure is far too low, and we don’t think he would survive if we carried on.”

For a second, all Steve processed was the news that Danny was still alive. He turned slightly to give Grace a quick thumbs-up, to get rid of the panicked expression on her face as she sat curled up in her seat in fear. The rest of the doctor’s words registered and Steve’s stomach turned to ice. “You said pause… when do you plan to resume surgery?”

"In the morning, we hope. We’re going to pack the incision site and move him to ICU for the night, get his blood volume up, correct the acidosis, try and get him strong enough for surgery to fix the damage.”

“So he’s okay for now? And he’s going to be okay?” 

Doctor Badsha pursed his lips as he contemplated how best to respond. “I wish I could give you that, Commander McGarrett, I really do, but we’re still listing Danny as critical. Best case scenario, he survives the night and survives surgery in the morning, but that is assuming no new surprises. But we really do think this is the best option to maximize his chances of survival - if we continued the surgery now, Dr. King and I both think Danny wouldn’t make it.”

“Right. Okay” Steve’s voice was hollow, his words automatic as his brain tried to process this. “Can I… we,” Steve motioned to Grace, “Can we go see him?”

Dr. Badsha looked around Steve to see who he was referring to. “His daughter, I presume?” When Steve nodded, he continued, “Visiting hours are over, but I can arrange for you to have a few minutes with your partner once he has been settled into ICU. But I’m not sure about letting Danny’s daughter see him like this - it will upset her. He is on a ventilator, and being kept sedated."

Any other time, Steve would have been in full agreement. But tonight was different. “Doc… she witnessed her father get shot. She was the first to administer aid to him, and she did it, on her own, surrounded by terrorists, for over twenty minutes before we were able to get to them. If we do have to face the worst-case scenario… I don't want Grace's last image of her father to be on the floor of a ballroom, in a pool of his own blood." Steve, on the other hand, had had the pleasure of accompanying his partner in the ambulance, knowing enough about medicine from his time as an active SEAL to know his partner was in bad shape, and getting worse, as the paramedics fought to keep him alive long enough to get him to hospital. 

Dr. Badsha looked at Steve intently before nodding sharply. "I see. I'll allow it, but with a condition. The second the nurse in charge feels Grace is becoming unduly upset, you both must leave. Danny may be sedated, but unconscious parents are still parents, and I won't have him disturbed when his condition is still so fragile.”   
  
"Agreed, Doc, thank you so much," Steve held his hand out for the doctor who took it and gave it a firm pump.

"I'll have a nurse from ICU come to collect you both, and prep you, once Danny is ready." With a final nod, Dr. Badsha left the room, and Steve turned to an anxious Grace, sitting down next to her and pulling her close to his chest.

"Hey Gracie, we're gonna get to see Danno soon. A nurse is gonna come take us to see him once he is settled in the ICU." Steve could literally feel some of the tension leave Grace's body. 

"But why was surgery so short? When he gave his liver to you a few months back, we waited much longer."

Steve closed his eyes at the reminder of just how much Grace had gone through this past year alone. No kid should have to worry so much about their dad, and Steve was responsible for a lot of it. 

"They're going to carry on in the morning, Gracie. They wanted to give your dad a chance to rest before they finish up." Steve gently shook Grace's shoulder. "I don't know if you were told, but they did the same with me when I got hurt. I had two different surgeries, hours apart, and look at me now." 

He felt Grace squeeze her arms from where they were wrapped around his middle. "I just want Danno to be okay."

"Me too, bud," replied Steve, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as they settled in to wait to be told they could see their Danno. 

* * *

"Are you Grace, Detective Williams' daughter?" At Grace's gentle nod, the nurse introduced herself. "I'm Nurse Angela, I'm the lead nurse in the ICU tonight, and me and my team are taking care of your dad. Would you like to go see him now?" At Grace's more enthusiastic nod this time, Angela laughed and Steve couldn’t help but smile too. "Yeah, I bet. And it'll be really good for him to have you there, even though he won't be awake. But is it okay if I go through a few things with you first?"

"Yes, of course," replied Grace, causing Steve to hide his widening smile in his niece's hair. Danny and Rachel had done a great job raising such a polite, well-mannered kid, and it always made Steve giggle internally when he would see it contrasted with Danny's rage and bluster and tendency to call Steve all sorts of names. 

"So you know how your dad had some surgery earlier, and he will be having more in the morning? To help him, we need to make sure we don't accidentally let him catch any germs from us that could cause an infection, so is it okay if I ask you both to wear gloves and face masks the entire time you're in the ICU? This will benefit our other patients as well."

Steve and Grace both agreed easily. "Yeah, no problem,” Steve said for both of them. 

"That's great, thank you," Angela gave them both a smile before her expression turned serious again and she looked at Grace. "Grace, you also need to know that it won't be easy, seeing your dad in the ICU. He has a lot of tubes and wires from medical equipment around him, including a tube which is helping him breathe, but I want you to keep reminding yourself that all of it, absolutely all of it, is to help your dad, okay? And most importantly of all, you cannot touch him anywhere on his chest and stomach, okay honey? 

"Yeah, okay," Grace whispered, her body leaning more into Steve, causing him to unconsciously start rubbing his hand up and down her arm again. 

Angela patted Grace's hand gently. "Good girl. One last thing - if you feel you're getting upset and it's getting a bit much, you just need to look at me and I can take you out, okay? There is no shame in it. Your dad might be asleep, but I get the feeling he's a really good dad, and he'll know, and we don't want to disrupt his rest. Does that sound okay to you?" At Grace's nod, she added. "Do you have any questions for me, sweetie, before we head up?"

Grace pursed her lips and stole at quick glance at Steve who tried to look encouraging. "Ask away, Grace, whatever is on your mind."

Grace turned to Angela. "Um… is my dad in any pain? Would you know?" 

Angela smiled. "Your dad is in no pain at all, sweetie. We want nothing more than to have him rest comfortably, and you'll see that when we go to him. And we are monitoring him closely so that at no point your dad's rest is disturbed.” She stood up, Steve and Grace mimicking her movement. “Come on, the sooner you see your dad, the sooner you can go home and get some sleep.”

Taking Grace by the hand, Steve followed the nurse out of the family room and a few minutes later, they were in the ICU, faces and hands covered. Although Steve could only see Grace’s eyes, he knew she was apprehensive yet determined. Keeping his focus on her, Steve was able to distract himself from his own nerves of seeing his partner laid up in an ICU bed. In the seven years he had been Danny’s partner, save for the sarin attack, Steve had managed to avoid having to see his partner laid up at death’s door, and he’d had a fool’s hope that he would never have to.

“Ready?” Angela led them towards a private room with large glass windows covered in blinds. 

Haunted by the potential impact seeing her Danno hooked up to a ventilator might have on Grace, Steve wrapped his hand around his niece's wrist until she looked at him, a questioning look in her eyes. 

“Gracie… you don’t have to go in there. Maybe you should stay out here, I’ll go check in on Danno.”

“No, Uncle Steve, I wanna see him.”

“He’s not going to look like himself, Gracie.”

“Can’t be any worse than when I last saw him, Uncle Steve,” his niece replied and Steve’s heart clenched. Angela, who’d been watching this exchange with a sympathetic look in her eyes, gently opened the door to Danny’s room. 

“Okay, let’s see your dad.”

It was both better and worse than Steve was expecting. Yes, he’d seen many a man, woman, and child die in front of him during his time in the navy, and to a slightly less gruesome extent, his time in Five-O. He’d visited many victims of crime in hospitals. And yes, he’d seen Danny soaked in blood and barely conscious on the ballroom floor of the hotel Grace’s school had hired for the winter formal, ridden in the back of the ambulance as they rushed Danny to hospital, and yes, this Danny was cleaned of blood and grime and quite look as close to death’s door as the last glimpse Steve had had of him. 

But this was also Danny, stilled of all motion. Danny, who was movement personified, a force to reckon with, lightning in a bottle of a man, reduced to the confinement of a hospital bed, the only motion the machine-caused rise and fall of his chest. 

And whereas Steve was frozen in motion, just vaguely listening to Angela introduce them to Danny’s nurse who would be with him, and him alone, whilst he was in this room, Grace proved once again that she was made of the same material as her father. 

Tugging her wrist out of Steve’s grip, she walked up to her father’s hospital bed and curled her fingers around Danny’s hand, taking care to not budge the IV inserted into the back of his hand. 

“Hey Danno,” Steve heard Grace whisper, the slight shakiness in her voice causing Steve to step up next to her, his hand on her back in silent support. 

“Your dad’s doing well, sweetie. His numbers are improving, and he’s resting,” Angela said as she took up position on the opposite side of Danny’s bed, the chart she’d been handed by the nurse in her hands. “You can stay here and give him company, we’ll come and get you two in a few minutes.”

With that, Grace and Steve were left alone in the room with the man they loved most in the world. 

Twenty minutes later, Grace and Steve were back in the family room, Steve holding on tightly to his niece as she sobbed into his chest, the emotions of the night, and seeing her father in such a dire state finally getting to her. 

“Shh, shh, it’s okay, Gracie, Danno’s gonna be okay, I promise,” Steve whispered fiercely, pressing his lips in Grace’s soft hair. 

“You can’t promise that,” sniffled Grace even as she clung tighter to her uncle. 

“Your dad is the strongest man I know, okay? He’s going to get through this,” Steve replied firmly, hoping his partner wouldn’t make a liar out of him. 

“I just want him to be happy and safe.”

“Me too, Gracie, me too.” Steve loosed his hold as he felt Grace pull away so she could look at him directly. 

“Then stop being a coward, and tell him how you feel. You’ve both wasted so much time,” Grace said fiercely. 

Steve’s mouth dropped open at the ire in his niece’s eyes, red-rimmed as they were. His response, whatever it would have been, was lost as Kono, Lou and Will entered the family room, Grace immediately teaching for Will who wrapped his arms around her. 

Hands-on his hips, Steve tried to resume the mantle of task force leader as he jerked his head to indicate to Kono and Lou to move away a bit so they could give the teenagers some space. 

"Boss? Any word on Danny?" Kono asked, her voice soft. 

"They uh, they've stopped the surgery. They're gonna go in again in the morning. Danny's in ICU right now, Grace, and I got to see him for a few minutes." 

"He gonna be okay?" Lou asked even as he kept his eyes on the two kids. 

"They wouldn't say. It depends on how the next surgery goes, I guess," Steve replied even as his mind railed against the thought that Danny was still hovering at death's door. "Any ETA on Rachel?"

"Her flight got delayed, bad weather. She and Charlie won't get here until the afternoon," Kono replied. "I can take Grace home with me."

Before Steve could reply, Lou jumped in. "If it's okay with you Steve, I'd like to take Grace home with me and Will. Danny looked out for my kid in there, the least I can do is take care of Grace whilst he is down." 

Steve thought about it. Part of him wanted to stay with Danny, but another part knew that Danny would always want Steve to put Grace before him. He’d already made one impossible decision that night when he’d chosen to ride in the ambulance with Danny as opposed to staying behind on scene with Grace. It had taken Kono shoving him after the paramedics with the promise that she would bring Grace right behind them, to convince him fully, but he’d gone with Danny. And Kono had kept her promise, showing up in the family room of the surgery ward with a Grace who’d been changed out of her blood-soaked formal dress into the change of clothes Kono kept in her car, her eyes red-rimmed but hands cleaned of any of her father’s blood. So in much the same way he trusted Grace with Kono, he trusted Lou to take care of Danny’s daughter. And he knew Grace would want Steve with Danny to keep an eye on him when he was down, so decision made, he accepted Lou's offer. 

"Thanks, Lou," Steve said before taking a deep breath to get him through the difficult task of convincing Grace to leave the hospital whilst her dad was still in critical condition. 

Twenty minutes later, Steve was once again in a face mask and gloves as he took a seat next to Danny's bed, reaching out to grab a hold of his partner's hand. Angela had been reluctant at first to allow Steve to stay with Danny in the intervening hours between the surgeries but Steve wasn’t going to be kept apart from his partner for a moment longer, not after what had happened that night.

A quick glance at the monitors was enough for Steve's semi-trained eyes to note that Danny's vitals hadn't improved much since the last time Steve was here. His heart rate was too high, his blood pressure too low, and machines were still supporting Danny's most critical functions. The swathe of bandages on his abdomen was thick enough to be distinguishable under the thin blanket covering him. And to think the damage that was hidden underneath hadn't yet been fully fixed, that Danny still had a long road ahead of him. 

The weight of the outcome Steve may have to face in the next few hours settled over him, a heavy blanket on shoulders not capable of bearing this potential loss. 

"You're a hero, Danny," Steve finally whispered. No matter what happened in the next few hours, he needed Danny to know that. "I don't know how we would have gotten the kids outta there if you hadn't taken down half the men by yourself if you hadn't hidden Will away. The Filipino government had already executed the imam, so we had no leverage. But you, you kept them safe. Grace, Will, all those other kids and teachers, and parents. That's all on you, buddy. While the rest of us were playing poker.” Steve added bitterly, wishing once again he’d canceled poker night and joined in on his partner’s attempt to spy on his daughter at the dance. This night could have gone so differently if he’d been there, watching his partner’s back like he was supposed to. Like Danny had done for him all these years. 

Steve swallowed against the lump in his throat, his hand tightening on Danny's even as his partner gave no indication that he had heard a word of what Steve had said. Undeterred, Steve continued: "You're gonna laugh at this, but your kid called me a coward earlier. And she was right. I have been a coward. There's something I gotta tell you man and I need you to be awake and listening for it. So I'll make you a deal, okay? You get through this, and I'll tell you. I promise."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I know what this is," Danny said. 
> 
> His partner's expression took on a slight hint of wariness, tinged with what looked like hope but couldn't have been. "Oh yeah?"
> 
> "Yeah. One near-death experience and you've gone all warm and cuddly on me," said Danny, repeating the words Steve had said to him when Danny had returned to the office after his hospitalization from sarin exposure. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience in waiting for this chapter - I added two scenes to the start and end, hence the slight delay. 
> 
> I forgot to mention - although a generic phrase the title is from Damien Rice's song, "Grey Room". 
> 
> Some dialogue taken from 7x08.

_“Have you made the arrangements?” Danny raised his head as the lead terrorist spoke on the phone. “Not going to happen, you’re wasting time because, in thirty minutes, people will die.” Danny winced internally as he heard the increasing ire in the man’s caused, knowing without a doubt that it was because his partner was attempting something that could mean a successful end to this situation, but also risk an unfortunate ending. “Ask again, and I’ll shoot two hostages.”_

_Danny had heard enough. He lifted his head higher and spoke out, ignoring the automatic weapons being aimed at his head. “Hey hey, let me talk to him, huh?”_

_The leader pressed the phone into his shoulder. “And why would I do that?”_

_“Because we want the same thing,” Danny reasoned. “Okay? You get your guy, we all get to go home, alright? We just wanna go home.” He had to get Grace, Will, all these other kids home. He couldn’t live with himself if that wasn’t the end result of all this._

_The leader nodded towards the man standing behind Danny and seconds later he was on his feet, arms up in the arm as he tried to keep the gunmen calm. “Relax, relax, okay?”_

_“If you say the wrong thing-”_

_“Just relax,” Danny interrupted before the guy could get too many ideas into his head, taking hold of the phone and holding it to his ear. “Steve?”_

_“Danny,” his partner replied, tension evident in his voice, but only to perhaps Danny and the team. No stranger would have noticed that his partner was champing at the bit. It was good to hear his voice, but Danny had very little time, and one chance to relay the message he needed to get through to his team, especially to Lou._

_“Steve, you gotta listen to me. These guys, they mean business okay?” Danny said, inserting a hint of nerves into his voice for the benefit of the terrorists listening in. “You gotta do what they say. Call the consulate, do what you will, call who you will. You understand? Call who you Will.” Trusting his team would have picked up on his not-so-subtle message, Danny passed the phone back to the leader who took it whilst giving Danny a sharp look. _

_“Let me add some extra incentive,” the leader said to Steve and before Danny could even sparse the meaning of the man’s words, a sharp sensation passed through the left side of his abdomen before the retort of a handgun firing and Grace’s scream filtered in through his ears. On the periphery of his awareness, he could hear the screams of other students and the leader speaking into the phone but his focus was only on his daughter’s cry of horror._

_He fell to his knees, one hand pressing against the source of blinding pain, meeting dampness which confirmed that he’d been shot. Shot, in front of his daughter, in front of all of her school friends. Shot, whilst his entire team listened in._

_Slim arms wrapped around his back and took a hold of his free arm, his daughter guiding his descent so that he was laying on the cold floor, his mind still trying to catch up to what had happened in the last thirty seconds, his breathing quickening, heart pounding away in his chest._

_“Danno, Danno, oh god.” Grace’s voice filtered in and his eyes focused on his daughter just in time to see her look of fright morph into anger as she turned her face to the leader. Knowing that his kid was about to pick a fight with a terrorist in order to defend her dad, Danny swallowed back the pain and shock and squeezed his daughter’s hand, drawing her attention back to him._

_“Hey, hey, monkey, look at me. I’m okay, I promise.” His words were enough to make Grace focus her anger on him._

_“You’re not okay, dad, he shot you!”_

_“But I’m okay, Gracie, it’s fine.” Before his daughter could debate his definition of fine, he reached for her shoulder with his free hand and pulled her towards him. “C’mere, lie down, head down, okay?” Thankfully his daughter didn’t resist him and he positioned her head on his right shoulder, his arm going around her, his hand covering her head. Knowing Steve, the shooting would have only pushed up any schedule to infiltrate and assuming they hadn’t forgotten the message Danny had passed on just moments before they heard their team-mate go down, they’d call Will and get some intel before barging in here. It may not be soon enough for him, but it would mean the terrorists wouldn’t have the chance to shoot anyone else._

_“Danno,” Grace whispered as her hand came to rest atop of his, pressing down on his wound even as he felt blood trail down his side and onto the floor, hating that he was glad for the extra pressure his teenage kid was providing as he felt his strength decrease rapidly._

_In all his years as a cop, it was the first time he’d been shot in the torso, the pain of being stabbed in a similar area two years ago by his ex-girlfriend’s ex-husband paling in comparison. He was already feeling lightheaded, and he knew if his team didn’t come soon, he was going to pass out. But no way was he going to pass out when his daughter was still being held hostage. He’d already failed his daughter enough by having her witness him get shot, having to do first aid on her dad’s bullet wound. As if she didn’t have enough fodder for nightmares already, what with being kidnapped as a nine-year-old, seeing her dad get arrested for murder in front of her classmates._

_“Shh, it’s okay, monkey, Uncle Steve is coming,” Danny whispered, blinking to clear the tears gathering in his eyes as the minutes passed, Grace’s hand the only reason why his own didn’t slide to the floor as his strength waned. He could feel his daughter’s trembling breaths pass through his own body as she tried to contain her fear. “I love you, monkey.”_

_“Danno?” His daughter began to lift her head off his shoulder but he used the last of his strength to keep her head on his shoulder, his eyes open and staring at the ceiling. It was getting harder and harder with each passing second, but he refused to fall unconscious and leave his daughter even more alone in this situation than she already was._

_Just when he thought he was about to fail his daughter again, he thought he heard the sounds of guns firing from far away. His suspicions were confirmed when there was a loud banging noise and the men standing guard around them collapsed, riddled with bullet holes._

_“See? Uncle Steve’s here,” Danny whispered as he heard his partner calling for his daughter and him, his body finally giving in to the blood loss as his tenuous hold onto consciousness broke._

Danny woke to a soft sensation, fingers gently playing with the hair on his forearm. He was warm, comfortable, surrounded by the smell of home, the quiet that he had been deprived of during his time in hospital. No beeping, no constant shuffling of people, the rolling of carts. Instead of a scratchy sheet, he was covered in the fleece throw that normally resided on the top of his couch, something he had bought with Grace and Charlie, big enough to snuggle all of them during movie nights, with enough leftover to cover Steve on the semi-frequent occasions he joined them. 

And the hand on his arm continued its gentle caress.

Opening his eyes, Danny noted that the TV was still on from when he had been watching it when he'd fallen asleep, except it was now muted. And partly blocking his view was the head of his partner who sat on the floor, his back to the couch and Danny, left hand holding up his phone as he fiddled around with something on the screen, the colors bright enough to make Danny suspect that his partner’s secret addiction to Candy Crush was on-going. 

And his right hand was on the sofa, playing with Danny's arm hair. 

Two could play that game. Twisting his fingers slightly, he nabbed a few strands of Steve's forearm hair and yanked, causing the man to look up from his phone to Danny, a pleased smile appearing on his face as he realized Danny was awake and watching him.

"Hey Danno, how you feeling?" Steve's voice was quiet, as though he didn't want to break the sense of peace pervading in the room. 

Danny took a moment to consider how his body felt, wanting to give his partner an honest response. After recovering from the liver donation a few months back, he had a solid basis for comparison for post-surgical aches and pains.

"Been better, been worse," Danny replied, just as quietly. "Will probably need some painkillers in a bit, but I'm good for now. When did you get here?"

"A little while ago. Sorry I couldn't bring you home this morning." That had been the original plan, but the Governor had called an urgent meeting that required Steve's presence, and he couldn't say no, especially after how generous the Governor had been with allowing Steve time off to stay with Danny in hospital, especially in the first week. In his stead, Chin and Kono had brought Danny home, with Kono staying until Steve could relieve her of Danny duty, except Danny must have slept through the change of guard. 

"That's okay. How was the meeting?"

"Fine. I had to be there but doesn't really impact Five-O. You want something to drink?"

Danny patted Steve's hand. "No, not just yet, just stay here for a bit."

"K, Danno," said Steve, surprisingly compliant. 

As Steve's attention turned to his phone because of a new message, Danny's eyes flicked to the TV, which was now playing an advert for Vegas holidays. That reminded him of… This time, he scratched lightly on Steve's arm to get his attention. Steve turned to him, his eyebrow raised. 

"How was poker night?"

Steve looked confused for a second before his expression cleared. "Oh. That. Yeah, it went good, Danny. Dog almost rinsed the rest of us a bit but we fought back. Think I could even take you on now, my skills have improved since we last played."

As if. Danny let Steve hold on to his delusion, it would pay off for Danny later. "And the sandwiches?

"Great, everybody loved them. Kamekona wanted seconds and thirds." 

"You took credit for them, didn't you?" 

"Yeah, course I did." Steve was unrepentant, shooting Danny a toothy smile but Danny refused to be charmed by the idiot. 

"Even though I expressly told you not to? 

"What's yours is mine, Danno. Including sandwich-making credit."

"' _What's yours is mine?_ '" Danny repeated, incredulous. "We're not married, you Neanderthal."

"Yeah, I know." An odd expression crossed Steve's face, rare enough in its appearance that it hadn't earned a name from Danny "Would you like to be?"

Danny's hand jerked when it rested on Steve's, his partner who was looking at him with not a hint of a smile on his face. Instead, his eyes and face both betrayed a seriousness that was never there when they were in the middle of their normal squabbling. 

"What kind of question is that, Steve? You get hit on the head recently and nobody tell me?"

"A serious one." Keeping hold of Danny's arm, Steve used it as a fulcrum point as he twisted around so he sat cross-legged, facing Danny at eye level, his knees pressed tight to the couch. 

"I know you're serious," Danny replied after a moment, his eyes searching Steve's expression for a hint, an iota, of a clue that could explain this grenade that Steve had just unpinned, hoping he could figure it out before it exploded between them. "I don't know if that makes it better or worse. What the hell's the matter with you?"

“Nothing.”

“There must be something wrong.”

“Why must there be something wrong?”

“Because you just asked me if I’d like to be married to you, you dumbass, and I can tell you’re not joking.” Danny tried to pull his arm away from his partner’s gentle hold but to no avail as Steve only held on tighter. 

"Danno, I love you. I'm _in love_ with you. And I have been for a while. And I don't want to keep it from you anymore, even though I know you probably don't feel the same way about me, and that's okay too." Steve's thumb gently traced a path on Danny's hand, but it was the only indication that his partner was not as calm and removed as he appeared on the surface. His face betrayed nothing, his voice determined but calm, betraying no hint, of nerves, of hope, of fear.

"Where is this coming from, babe?" Danny lifted the hand that was free of Steve to press lightly against his incision site, not knowing if the sudden slight pain was his previous dose of medication wearing off, or an off-shoot of the anxiety he could feel churning in his gut. 

Steve shrugged, looking away from Danny towards the floor. "It's coming from sitting next to you all night in the ICU, with the doctors basically implying that you might not live through the night. It’s coming from them saying they stopped surgery on you the first time because your body was too weak. It's from waiting for you, for hours, as they took you in a second time." Steve shrugged again. "Or maybe it's from listening to you get shot over the phone, and me not being able to get to you; trying to find some way of getting in and saving you, without putting all the other kids at risk, knowing each passing minute might mean you leaving us."

For a long moment, Danny just stared at his partner, thinking that maybe if he kept eye-contact for long enough, it would result in Steve breaking into a smile and confess that he was just yanking Danny's chain with a false love confession as a twisted punishment for Danny worrying Steve. 

Because no way was his partner saying what he thought he was saying. Danny had already had his miracle for this year, what with his daughter and all her friends making it out of the hostage situation physically unscathed, and Danny being granted the gift of life to see his kids grow up. Danny wasn't foolish enough to think he'd get his second most desired miracle, which was his partner reciprocating the feelings that Danny himself had kept hidden for well over half their partnership. 

Except Steve wasn't breaking into a smile, letting Danny in on whatever joke his twisted mind had come up with. So Danny took pity on his partner.

"I know what this is," Danny said. 

His partner's expression took on a slight hint of wariness, tinged with what looked like hope but couldn't have been. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. One near-death experience and you've gone all warm and cuddly on me," said Danny, repeating the words Steve had said to him when Danny had returned to the office after his hospitalization from sarin exposure. 

Except Steve didn't mimic Danny's reaction from all those years ago, there was no smile and arms opening for a hug. Instead, Steve frowned and tightened his grip on Danny's forearm. 

"Danny, no. That's not what this is."

"Yes, it is," Danny insisted, a flash of pain from his stomach making him wince. He'd have to have his next round of meds soon. Gripping Steve's forearm, he started to carefully begin the process of lifting himself up without using his abused abdominal muscles. Steve, understanding immediately what Danny was trying to do, shifted and placed his hands under Danny's back and legs to ease him into a sitting position. Except it still left Danny panting in pain, sweat beading his brow as his partner kept his hand on the back of Danny's neck and squeezed it in a silent show of comfort. 

"It's the first time you've almost seen me die. The doctor told me how close it was," Danny said softly, hoping a lower volume would put less strain on his aching body. "That time with the bomb, the time with the garage coming down on us, both of us were at risk. But this time it was just me, and you're freaking out. I get it, I went through it with you a couple of months ago, and I reacted by giving you a liver, and you're reacting by giving me your heart. But it doesn't work like this, Steve."

"Danny, that's not what I’m doing, I swear."

"Yes, it is," Danny insisted. "I know you love me, and I know how tough it must have been to almost lose me, because I went through it with you on that plane. But that doesn't mean you're in love with me." Danny couldn't take the stricken look on Steve's face anymore, even though it told Danny that he had finally gotten through his idiot of a partner regarding his well-meaning but ultimately misguided confession. Danny ignored the pain in his heart and focused on the pain in his abdomen. "Help me up."

Steve did, his hands tightening around Danny's bicep when Danny couldn't keep the cry of pain in him when he finally made it to standing. He hunched over, pressing his forehead into Steve's shoulder as he waited for the pain to abate, his body punishing him for not being horizontal. 

"Come on, buddy, let's get some food and meds into you and then straight to bed after I've changed your dressing." Steve's voice was quiet, and Danny hated himself slightly for making his partner sound the way he did. But he also owed it to Steve to watch his back, to not let him get himself into stupid situations just because he couldn't cope with his emotions and read them correctly. 

Because the fact remained - Danny was in love with his partner and had been for a very long time. And there was no way Steve felt the same way. Danny would have known if he did. 

* * *

"Only you would make your injured partner come all the way to your house because you're bored of mine."

Danny's grumbling had started from the moment Steve had walked into Danny's house and announced that they were moving Danny's recuperation to phase 2, which involved a shift to Steve's house. Now that Danny was spending more time out of bed, and able to walk around for short periods with the help of a cane, he would benefit from the larger space provided by Steve's house, as well as the much larger lanai where Danny could spend the rest of his time, Steve had argued even he'd start shoving Danny's clothes and medicines into a duffel bag before Danny could get a word of protest in edgewise.

"Not bored, Danny. Just thought it would be good for you to get out a bit; aren't you sick of your house?" Steve replied as he kept an arm tight around Danny's waist even as his partner used a cane to steady his steps. 

"It's my house, why would I get sick of it?"

"Yeah, well, you've known this house a lot longer, so it has dibs on you."

"Jesus, McGarrett, even your house is possessive. And what, skimping on the electricity bill, why are all the lights off?"

"It's not good for the environment. Besides, I could walk this house blindfolded and not bump into anything."

"Yes, because you're an animal, of course you have night sight. For fuck's sake, Steve, where are you taking me?"

"Outside, lanai, you need the fresh air." Steve opened the glass doors separating the dining room and his father's study from the lanai and let Danny's bitching about how fresh air wasn't a remedy for gunshot wounds pass over him as he silently counted down in his head, hoping that after all the careful planni-

"SURPRISE!"

Steve's felt Danny's jerk of surprise pass through his body, tightly pressed together as they were, as Chin turned the fuse switch back on and the backyard was suddenly illuminated with hundreds of fairy lights strung up around the trees, picnic tables, chairs that were now on the McGarrett lawn, the bright lights revealing the fifty or so teenagers and the rest of Five-O ohana gathered together facing Danny and Steve with huge smiles on their faces, hands meeting in loud applause. 

A large banner proclaiming "Mahalo, Det. Williams" hovered above the party of people, a cartoon shrimp with Kamekona's face in the corner betraying who had been in charge of printing and providing the custom decoration.

"Steve, what…?" Steve grinned at the open-mouthed surprise on his partner's face, something he had never seen before on Danny's face in the time he'd known him. He was used to being the cause of shocked and horrified expressions on his partner's face due to his nonconventional methods out on the field, but this was something truly new. 

"Don't look at me, this wasn't my idea," Steve piped up. He tightened his grip around Danny's waist when he felt the man shiver slightly. He laughed as he spotted the blush reddening his partner's face as the applause and hooting continued from the jubilant gathering.

"But," Danny started but didn't finish, his eyes darting from the banner to the fairy lights to the chairs and tables to the teenagers dressed in beachwear as Grace and Will broke away from the crowd of their friends to walk towards Danny, matching grins on their face, a lei in the colors of the New Jersey flag in Grace's hand. 

"Surprise, Danno," Grace said with a cheeky grin as she draped the lei around her father's neck and kissed him on his cheek. 

"Grace, what is this?" 

"It's a party, Danno, for you." Grace rolled her eyes in typical teenage fashion, but Steve knew it was in jest. 

"But why?" 

Will spoke up, a smile on his face as Grace stepped back and stood by him, pop music starting to blare from the rented sound system hidden somewhere amongst the hustle and bustle of the backyard party. "Everyone at the dance wanted to say thank you to you for everything you did to keep us safe, and we felt bad that you got hurt. So we thought maybe a party where you don't have to worry about chaperoning us or save us from terrorists might help."

"And Lou thought it would be a good idea to give them a chance to have a dance with their friends surrounded by members of Five-O," Steve added in a whisper into his partner's ear even as he stepped back so Grace could take his place. Okay, so maybe Lou hadn't really suggested that and it may have been a plan Steve had cooked up, but Danny wouldn't know any better. 

"Come on, Danno, we've got a special place set up for you to sit so you can keep an eye on the punchbowl," Grace said as she led her father over to where the Adirondack chairs had been moved from the beach to a part of the lawn which had a good vantage point of the whole party without being in the thick of it. 

Steve followed at a close distance, ready to support his partner at the first sign of trouble. It had only been two weeks since the shooting and whilst Danny was bouncing back, it would still be a while before he was back at Five-O even on light duty. But he would get his partner back, one way or another, no matter how long it took, and Steve would personally see to it that Danny saw just how grateful everyone was that he was still in their lives. Danny may not have returned his feelings, but he refused to be ungrateful for the gift that was breathing, talking, smiling Danny. As he'd done for the last few years, Steve would just be happy with what he already had.

* * *

"This is ridiculous," Danny muttered to Lou an hour later as the older man gave him company. Grace and Will were dancing with their friends and Steve had wandered off to grab more ice and drinks for the thirsty crowd.

"What you on about, man? I think it's cute. Puppy love, and all that," Lou exclaimed.

"I don't mean them," Danny waved his hand in the direction of his daughter and her, God help him, boyfriend. "I meant this," his hand drawing a circle in midair to encompass the entire party. "Since when do we have thank-you parties for doing our jobs?"

"First of all, this isn't for us, this is for you. Second, you weren't on the job that night. You were unarmed, you were a dad chaperoning his kid's dance."

"Still think this is too much fuss. If there should be a party for anyone, it should be for Will. He's the one who risked himself to send you guys video footage of the ballroom, saved my ass more than once." Danny grumbled, refusing to look Lou's way even as a heavy hand settled on his forearm. 

"He saved all our asses," Lou agreed before his voice turned soft. "Danny, thank you for looking out for my son in there."

"Whoa whoa, stop, what are you talking about," Danny blustered, "He's like family, he's family. Hopefully not actually family anytime soon," Danny added with a laugh as he saw Will twirl Grace around in her arms before dipping her as they danced to an upbeat song. 

"Hey, you could do a lot worse," Lou replied even as he chuckled half-nervously at the thought of his kid having Danny as a father-in-law. 

"Yeah I'll give you that, he's a good kid, Lou. Really good." 

"Yeah, takes after his mother that way," Lou said before nodding his head in the direction of the drinks table. "Speaking of family, I think your boy there needs an extra bit of TLC."

Danny looked to where Lou had nodded, spotting his partner upending a massive bag of ice cubes in a bowl, laughing along at something Kono was saying even as Jerry hovered at the edges to get first dibs on the ice. 

"What are you talking about? He looks fine to me." Sure the circles under Steve's eyes were a bit more prominent since that ill-fated poker night, but part of Danny figured it was due to picking up the slack of being a man down on the team whilst also having to take care of Danny every evening after work, no matter how much Danny had said he didn't need a babysitter. 

"You didn't see him that night, hearing you get shot. Having to hold back from charging in so he didn't put the kids at risk when all he wanted was to get to you." 

"I know the feeling, Lou, I'm the one who saw him get shot up in a plane." 

"I know, brother, I know. And I'm not saying it was easier on you than him, but he really loves you." 

"I love him too," replied Danny, starting to feel annoyed. If only his team knew that he loved Steve more than as a best friend, a brother, a partner. If only they'd understood that seeing him almost die six months ago had hurt more than the team could have ever imagined. "But he doesn't see me that way." The words were muttered under his breath, the sounds of the party enough to disguise them.

"Oh yes he does." Danny jerked in his seat and turned his head to stare at Lou, his mouth agape.

"What, you think just because I'm old these ears aren't always listening out for either one of my teenagers sneaking out at night?" Lou waved his hand in dismissal. "And the way that man looks at you, is the way I look at Renee, the way Adam looks at Kono, the way my boy looks at your daughter. You're just too busy trying to hide your own feelings that you don't notice it."

"Lou…"

"Don't Lou me. Now I'm the last person to want to encourage workplace romance, and I don't even want to begin to speculate about whether you and Steve swing that way, but we aren't just normal colleagues, we are family. And it hurts me to think that you and Steve could have what Renee and I have, but you're too stupid to see it in each other when it's so obvious to the rest of us."

"You're wrong, Lou," Danny said, a hint of anger underscoring his words, a part of him hating Lou for getting Danny's hopes up. Danny was a damn fine detective, he would have noticed if Steve looked at him that way. 

"Oh yeah? Then tell me, what does he need to do to convince you otherwise?" Lou asked, arms crossing over his chest, puffing it out in challenge. "Offer himself to the terrorists in exchange for them letting you go so you could have medical aid?" Lou must have correctly read the surprise in Danny's eyes because he nodded. "Yeah, you heard right, he went crazy when he heard you get shot, and the only reason he didn't barge in there as a one-man army was because of those kids in there with you. And he was barely holding it together that night in the hospital. He put up a brave face for your daughter, but otherwise, he was a wreck." Lou waved his hand towards where Kamekona had set up a mobile shave ice stand. "This party? Who do you think organized it with Grace and Will and is paying for it all? And you and I both know it ain't cheap to feed a teenager, let alone other thirty of 'em." Lou shook his head. "Y'all so obsessed with protecting each other that you've ended up protecting yourselves from each other."

Danny kept silent as he forced himself to keep his eyes on the party, even as his heart thudded away in his chest. From the corner of his chest, he could see Lou huff and sit back in his chair, clearly having said all that he'd wanted to. He smiled as Steve caught his eye and held aloft two shave ices in his hand, one clearly doused in the flavors that were Danny's favorite, the other in Steve's favorite, his partner grinning like a mad fool as he started making his way towards Danny and Lou before his progress was interrupted by Grace and Will who stopped to speak to him. 

"You've both been given a second chance at life this year, Danny. You and Steve both. Don't waste it." Lou's words were soft, sincere. 

"You're a good man, Lou," Danny finally said before wiping the serious expression from his face as Steve started making his way towards them again so his partner wouldn't worry. 

* * *

"Hey, come on," Steve gently rubbed his partner's shoulder. "You can't sleep out here, your body will hate you in the morning." 

His partner groaned even as his eyes blinked open. "My body already hates me," Danny said as he looked around, stunned to see the party was over. "Everyone gone?" 

"Yeah. Grace didn't want to disturb you, Kono gave her a lift back to Rachel's. She asked me to tell you she'll come over with Charlie in the morning."

"That's good. You need help cleaning up?"

Steve smiled at his partner, taking the high road by refraining from pointing out that Danny was hardly able to walk unaided, let alone be in any position to help Steve tidy up from a big party. "No, everybody chipped in before they left, and what's left I can sort in the morning. Let's get you changed and into bed."

Twenty minutes later, Danny was sat on the bed in the guest room, the bandages on his stomach changed, his night dose of pills consumed, dressed in the set of pajamas he kept in Steve's guest room. And he had a pensive look on his face. 

"You okay, buddy?" Steve asked as he set a glass of water on the bedside table. He sat down on the bed next to his partner, his shoulder gently pressing into Danny's. 

His partner nodded, before clearing his throat. 

"Last week, you said you were in love with me." Steve's heart began pounding away in his chest as Danny brought up that night, one that had not gone the way Steve had planned or hoped for, one that had made him put aside the silent promise he'd made himself and Grace for evaluation at a future, unspecified date. He didn't think Danny would ever bring it up again, but as always, his partner continued to surprise him. "Do you still feel that way?"

Steve leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. "Yeah, course I do."

"And it's not because I almost died?"

Steve tried and failed to suppress a whole body flinch, just about containing a shiver when Danny's hand came to rest on his lower back. "No, it's not because you almost died." 

"How long have you been in love with me?" If Steve had needed any further confirmation that unlike what Grace had thought, or what he himself had dreamed of, his partner didn't feel the same way about him, this was it. Otherwise, Danny's words wouldn't have sounded so clinical, so bereft of emotion. His heartbreak made his own voice harsh. 

"You want a date and time, Danny? Like maybe one of your previous near-death experiences? Or one of mine? Or maybe when you came to get me in North Korea? Or Afghanistan? Or do you want to say it was when you gave me half your liver? Or maybe it was a random Tuesday and you came to pick me up for work and I just saw you differently?" Steve's rant ended and his expression and voice softened. It wasn't Danny's fault that he didn't love Steve the way Steve dreamed of. He was lucky enough to have Danny in his life as it was, and he wouldn't be so ungrateful as to get worked up at not having his feelings returned. As long as Danny was alive, healthy, and in Steve's life in whatever form he chose, then Steve would live with it. He had been doing just that all these years anyway, what was a lifetime more? 

Steve sighed, glancing back at his partner before looking away, finally added: "I wish I could tell you, Danno, I wish I knew myself. But all I know is that I was in the middle of it before I even knew it had begun."

"Steve." Steve shook his head, bringing his hand up to rub his forehead. Danny's hand began rubbing circles on his lower back. "Steve, look at me." 

Steve shook his head again. "It's okay, Danny."

"It's not okay." 

That did it. Steve jerked his head to look at Danny, his stomach clenching at the thought that his confession had ruined things between them. He'd never stopped to consider that Danny walking away from him because of his feelings was an actual possibility. 

"What?" Steve rasped. 

"I was so sure you didn't feel the same way for me as I did for you," his partner said, an apologetic smile on his face as he shrugged slightly. "I was convinced, actually. I never planned to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Steve's brain was having trouble following, his mind zinging between wanting to interpret Danny's words the way his heart wanted, to his common sense not wanting to get his hopes up in case they got crushed in the next few seconds. 

"That I'm in love with you too, you idiot, and have been for a long time."

"You're in love with me?" Steve repeated, his common sense beginning to lose the battle as his heart started ramping up in preparation for a possible victory. 

"Yup." 

"As in, you love me the way I love you, which is not the same way I love Mary, Chin, Kono?" 

"Yes, you Neanderthal," Danny's voice had taken on a hint of amusement even as his fingers began scratching lightly on Steve's back. 

"And you're not just saying this because you almost died, and because I almost died a few months ago?" Steve had to be sure. He needed to be sure. 

"How many times are you going to make me say it? Yes," Danny replied, rolling his eyes even as a smile broke out on his face in response to the wide grin Steve couldn't contain as his heart claimed victory in this battle. 

"You love me," Steve repeated, finally as a statement, not a question. 

"And you love me," Danny replied, confirming a truth they'd both once been too cowardly to face, but no more. 

Later, neither man could figure out who leaned in first for the kiss. 

* * *

Grace let herself in through the front of the McGarrett house, giving it a cursory knock as she did, the habit showing her familiarity with the place as a second home, but also her respect for her uncle. Looking around, she immediately went towards her father who was sitting on the couch, cushions behind and around him, a mug of what she hoped was decaf coffee on the table next to him. 

“Morning, Danno,” Grace said as she walked over and bent down to give her father a gentle hug, basking in the warmth of his smile as he welcomed her.

“Hey monkey,” her father replied as he took her by the hand and pulled her down onto the couch next to him. “Where’s your brother?”

“Mom’s taking him for his tennis lesson; she’ll drop him back here in a few hours. She said she can come pick us up whenever you want.”

“So that’ll be never?” Her dad replied, a teasing smile on his face. 

Grace laughed slightly as she squeezed her father’s hand. It had taken years for her to see that as much as she loved her mother and father, they were happier apart, but she still was grateful they’d reached a point where they could be civil to each other. She started looking around, wondering where one of the reasons behind that change was. “Where’s Uncle Steve?”

Her dad pointed to the direction of the kitchen. “He said he was gonna make french toast that would blow grandma’s french toast out of the water.” They shared a smile at their mutual certainty that Steve was hoping to achieve an impossible feat, but that they'd both say otherwise to keep the man happy. 

“Oh, I want some too.”

“He’s got ears like a bat, I promise he heard you come in, you’re gonna get the first plate.”

“I’ll share, don’t worry, Danno,” Grace assured her father, even as instinct made her peer closer at her father. “You okay, dad?”

“Course, monkey, fighting fit.” She rolled her eyes at her dad’s exaggeration but she couldn’t also deny that he looked much better than he had since the night of her winter formal. The lines of pain around his eyes had eased, his color was much better, and there was a lightness to him. But there was something else, something Grace couldn’t quite put her finger on…

“Something’s different,” Grace said slowly, raising an eyebrow and giving her dad a pensive look. She knew had hit on something when her father honest-to-goodness blushed. Yes, there was no denying it, there was a slight tinge of redness to his cheeks that couldn’t be blamed on his recent injuries. 

“What? Nothing’s different monkey, you’re imagining things.”

“No,” Grace replied, nodding her head as her inkling that something was different with her father was all but confirmed. “There’s something different about you.” Her hands did a wax-on wax-off motion in between them, causing her dad to grab both her hands and pull her against his chest, but gently, mindful of his healing injury. 

“I think someone spiked your punch last night, Gracie, you’re seeing things,” her father grumbled. 

“You’d never let that happen,” she replied even as from the corner of her eye, she saw her uncle appear in the doorway of the kitchen, at an angle that allowed him to remain hidden from her father’s eyes. The mystery of her uncle’s strange behavior culminated in him grinning widely and giving Grace a double thumbs up. 

For a moment she wondered if both her dad and uncle had gotten their hands on Jeremy Ramos’ stash of special cigarettes when her uncle’s actions, combined with her dad’s general lightness of being which she now understood to be happiness reminiscent of her first few years when her mom and dad were still together, led to her mind coming up with the best of all possible explanations. 

Her dad and uncle had finally realized what they meant to each other.

Her uncontainable squeal of excitement startled her father and she felt him jump slightly.

“Grace, wha-.” Her dad’s words were cut off as her uncle entered the room and her dad’s attention was diverted. “What have you done?”

“What have _I_ done?’ Her uncle repeated even as the grin remained on his face as he sauntered over towards them. “What have _I_ done? Gracie, do you know what I've done?” Her uncle invited her to join in on his ploy. 

“No, I don’t. Dad, tell us, what has Uncle Steve done?” Her smile took on a hint of mischief and she tried to not laugh as her father’s eyes bounced between hers and her uncle’s.

“I don’t like this. You two are ganging up on me. Me, the injured party. Gracie, I thought I raised you better than this.”

“I haven’t done anything, Danno,” she replied, innocently, making her eyes big and round as she gazed up her dad, laughing when he rolled her eyes at her antics. 

“I swear, you two raise my blood pressure like no-one else,” her dad mumbled. 

“You love us,” her uncle protested as he looked perched down on the arm of the couch, forcing her dad to yank his hand away before it was sat on.

“I love Grace,” her dad confirmed as he looked up at his partner. “You, I’m still figuring out how to like.”

“That’s not what you said last night,” her uncle replied with the cheekiest grin she’d ever seen on him, watching in awe as it shaved years off his face and reminded her of the Steve she first met years ago as a young girl. 

Her mouth still agape, she watched as her uncle leaned down and pressed his lips to her dad’s in a firm kiss. 

“Steve!” Her dad snapped when her uncle pulled back before looking at Grace with a hint of fear in his eyes. It made Grace’s heart ache, but before she could assure her dad, her uncle took care of it as he always did. 

“Relax, Danno, who do you think convinced me to get my head out of my ass and actually tell you how I felt?” Steve said with a wink aimed at Grace before he walked back towards the kitchen as a slight smell of something burning reached their noses. 

“Grace?” Her dad’s voice was quiet even as she could read the hope in his eyes, clear as day, before it turned to confusion as Grace pulled out of his arms. “Where you going?”

“Relax, Danno, I’m just wanna talk to my dad’s new boyfriend, nothing to be embarrassed about,” Grace said in an echo of her father’s words from the dance when he’d approached her and Will. 

Her revenge complete as her father turned a deep shade of red, she pressed a kiss to his forehead before disappearing into the kitchen to give her uncle the biggest hug he would ever experience. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well done if you spotted the Jane Austen inspired quote (“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.”)
> 
> Thank you for your kudos, comments, and subscriptions from the last chapter. I hope this was a worthy culmination of the story. I hope you all keep well and safe.


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